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II Verdict, one of the country's leading retail analysts, warns that the success or failure of Internet retailers will depend on their delivery systems.
In a report, which values the Internet delivery market at 117rn a year and rising, Verdict claims that most online retailers are failing to satisfy consumers and will need to invest heavily in delivery systems if they are to survive.
Until now online retailers have focused the bulk of their investment on the front-end web site and marketing operation. Little or no investment has gone into ensuring that customers get what they want, when they want it—or where they want it. However, Verdict warns retailers that by contracting delivery to logistics companies they risk diluting the all-important retailer-customer relationship. The report says that the challenge faced by delivery and logistics companies is to get to know consumers better. It suggests that the catalogue and home shopping groups such as GUS and Littlewoods are well placed because they already have operations like White Arrow and Business Express.
Verdict's research suggests that customers are more concerned with accurate delivery times than with out and out speed of delivery. The report also calls on delivery companies to improve the skills of their customer-facing staff. It predicts mergers and acquisitions among logistics firms as the market expands.
• A new company, Dropzonel, is setting up a nationwide service that will take delivery of goods ordered over the Internet and hold them locally until the customer is ready to collect them. Founder Lynda Wallace says she is signing up a network of shops and petrol stations for customers who want to pick up their goods outside normal business hours.